murphaph

Lovely atmosphere.

Everything has been said that I wanted to say but still felt the need to comment, it's just so good!

Use an enamel wash and you will have hours of working time. You can also just make something similar using oil paints + turps but the drying time will be even longer than with enamels. You can buy ready made enamel washes. Then take off with a cotton bud (after it has dried a bit, maybe an hour or overnight) or those make up sponge things. I think they are for mascara. You can use turps or similar to more aggressively remove (assuming your paintjob is acrylic and not oil or enamel based). Edit: Your models are great but with the stratification you are maybe always going to struggle with washes pooling in those layers where they wouldn't in reality.

Amazingly well done. The backdrop blends in completely seamlessly!

I will take these if still available

First attempt at weathering a steam loco (kindly donated to science by @DJ Dangerous). As this loco never actually existed in Ireland anyway I felt happy enough to just use some random tank engine pics for inspiration, mainly a couple of Southern ones that showed the water splashes after the loco had taken on water recently. Also the ash streaking or whatever it is that streaks down from the funnel was evident. Another loco had streaking from the whistle, presumably limescale deposits? I have no idea really. I am actually pretty satisfied with the result. It will someday be hauling Genesis coaches in sunnier climes

Love that boiler. Brilliant.

Hi Peter, Spray can paint is usually about as thin as it gets. You definitely won't want to thin it any further IMO. I would just spray it out into another container and brush but it might be too thin and run. Test on something else first.

That's true Robert. I am positive that had I stuck with transfers for the large logos, this part of the operation would have highlighted the problem. By spraying the logos it's like the real thing and the dirt can get into all those nooks and crannies.

111s all put back together (bar the wipers which will go on at the very end) and first step in the weathering is a grubby enamel wash. I'll let this dry for a few days and clear coat probably, then maybe do some streaking. I don't think I'll go overboard on these. Mainly frame and roof dirt with a few stone chipped rust spots up front. NIR seemed to keep them a little cleaner than IE did at the time.

Cheers bob but that was a different livery wasn't it?

Hi George. I am assuming you have tried a different decoder to quickly eliminate the one installed? It's the quickest and easiest thing to eliminate but assuming it is the loco wiring then a dry joint on the 21MTC socket might be a likely cause. If it was further away from the decoder I would expect a less all encompassing fault, only at one end (you don't say if it's at both ends), only affecting one led etc. If you are careful you might be able to reflow the solder joints on the MTC connector without disassembling the loco. That's probably what I would do as it's the path of least resistance, pardon the pun. However, it's a bit suss that that the right hand (as seen from the front) white marker light appears not to work at all, so maybe that one deserves special attention should you need to dive deeper into the loco.

I really like that Suburban livery. Looks the business. Does anyone know when it was last applied to any vehicles that made it south of the border?

Thanks for the kind mention Tim. They look great. It's really nice to see pics of them "out in the wild" so to speak I am happy to make more up for anyone interested. Just drop me a PM.

So, a follow up to 111 and the sheared off LED3. Replacements arrived over Xmas and one was soldered in today. It's a pretty close match for the original, certainly to the naked eye it seems almost identical. I post the packaging here so if anyone is looking for replacements they can use this as a reference. Before: New 0603 SMD LEDs: After installation: Testing: The two outside LEDs should be closely matched. The centre one is for the headlight.

I reckon this run will sell out fairly easily.

I might go into the city tomorrow and take a gander at that H0 one!

And Anhalter is just one of several terminus stations in Berlin that no longer exist or at least not in the form they did (for example only the U-Bahn station remains, for example at Görlitzerbahnhof): Anhalter, Potsdamer, Görlitzer, Lehrter (on the site the current Hauptbahnhof was built after the remains of Lehrter were demolished), Schlesischer (nowadays Ostbahnhof), Stettiner and Hamburger Bahnhof. Görlitzer especially was a nice station but it had no chance of surviving as it ended up just inside West Berlin with its tracks heading to Görlitz in the GDR near the Polish border. The German wiki page shows some pictures after the wall had been built. There was a gate in the wall to allow freight (and only freight) to pass through the wall, with a gantry for GDR border guards to stand on and keep a watch out for would be escapees. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Görlitzer_Bahnhof Stettiner Bahnhof was renamed to Nordbahnhof by the GDR after the government recognised the Oder-Neiße line as the border between the GDR and Poland. Stettin was in Germany before the war, but now it was in Poland so it was politically incorrect to refer to it in this way and it was renamed to the bland Nordbahnhof. Nothing remains of any of the terminus station either, only the underground S-Bahn station still carries the name Nordbahnhof today: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Nordbahnhof I used to alight at the S-Bahn station every day and there are (purely decorative) tracks laid into the paving outside with the names of the destinations no longer served carved into stone "sleepers".

Merry Christmas from Munich Airport Tower... Extremely clear view of the Alps including the Zugspitze. Christmas day is a good day to visit as there's relatively little going on and they don't mind kids asking questions. Pics of the tower equipment are forbidden.

They look lovely. Are any of the IR ones going to have silver window frames?

I have a feeling they are the better option to be honest but that is a decision for @DJ Dangerous to make

Thanks a lot for all the kind words folks. I had intended doing a full rake of Vic Berry coaches but well, IRM relieved me of that responsibility lol and sure it means I can do something else instead. I will still do the mk2a plated over centre door resprays as these are pretty unlikely in RTR for the foreseeable future. Here are 112 and 113 with handrails applied. The windscreen wipers go on after the weathering is complete. I am wondering whether the original chunky plastic ones or etched brass ones from SSM would be better to be honest.... 111 has decided to be less cooperative, somehow losing the top of one of the leds In the pic led3 should also have a yellow top like the other two warm white leds). I have ordered a warm white 0603 replacement led to fix it before it is reassembled:

Those are cracking memories to have photographed. I have a handful of pictures of treasured toys that I probably lost in the back garden later on, but nothing like that!

What an absolute masterpiece.

113 going back together first. I struggled trying to prevent light bleed. I don't know if the donor bled light too but I took this back apart a number of times to get it right. The trick is getting the black "electrical tape" light blockers in the correct position. All three of these will have a driver fitted at a random end. Marker light surrounds painted with a cocktail stick: The handrail holes all need to be opened out slightly to accept the handrails. I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary but ho-hum.... Driver happy at work despite having no legs: Once I have reassembled all three I will begin weathering them.